will rise to the challenge. The three-day method is easy: peel, 130 degree oven for 72 hours. (more details on home cooking link above.)

Now, where can I get bushels of hachiya/fuju persimmons cheap? (There is a small public park in the peninsula used to have several persimmon trees, but they cut them down because the fruits were a nuisance...they couldn't get rid of them!)

I just bought some dried persimmons at the farmer's market (Berkeley). They are Hachiya. They had been sliced horizontally (with the peel on) and dried in a dehydrator. Cost was $10 per pound. They are superb. Soft, with the texture and sweetness of a medjool date. I've had the dried flattened persimmons such as sold in Chinatown and also sold at the time of the Japanese New Year celebration, and they are not that great -- kind of dried out and chewy. But the ones from the farmer's market are incredible.

The purveyor also had fresh persimmons for sale, and obviously could select perfect specimens for drying. He said that these batches were the best he'd ever made.